You are here

School board member quits

Longtime Lawton School Board member Eric Sharum has submitted his resignation as a member of the board effective March 31, the school district announced on Thursday.

In a statement, the school district said that Lawton Public Schools has two contracts with Oklahoma Sports Network with which Sharum is associated. Sharum was a member of the board at the time the contracts were approved in June 2016, the school district said; Lawton Public Schools does not pay and has not paid Oklahoma Sports Network for its sports production and streaming, but "Sharum has decided to resign his position from the board to avoid any possible conflict between his involvement with OSN and his public service as a board member," according to the statement from the district.

Sharum abstained, because of his connections with the network, when the school board approved the broadcast agreement with the Oklahoma Sports Network, which has been streaming football and basketball games involving MacArthur High School, Lawton High School and Elgin High School.

A school spokesperson said the contract is now void.

The school board will vote to approve the resignation at a special board meeting on March 28. Upon approval of Sharum's resignation and declaration of a vacancy, the board will consider appointment of a replacement for the Area 3 vacancy. The appointed member would serve the remainder of Sharum's term, which is a little less than a year, and then the position would be open for filing on the regular schedule for a five-year term.